Staff Profiles

Sharna BraucksGreater Green Bay YMCA Chief Operating Officer

Sharna Braucks came to the Greater Green Bay YMCA from the Twin Cities to continue her 20-year-long career with the YMCA. We’ve been fortunate enough to have Sharna as Chief Operating Officer for the Greater Green Bay YMCA since September 17, 2017. This role involves supporting the leadership teams at our four centers to ensure that we fulfill the Y’s mission, provide exemplary programs and services, and work to better our community.

“Our mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. I deliver on that by helping our teams at the centers have the resources they need, a structure to support them, and a facility that is functional to work with our members on attaining their goals of spirit, mind, and body. I help plan for the future so the YMCA will be here, delivering on that mission, for generations to come.”

She made the move to Green Bay with her husband of 24 years, Darren, along with her mother. She also has a daughter who attends the University of Minnesota-Rochester. Her mother, Sarona, is named after a small town in Wisconsin, and they named her daughter, Sanora, after her by switching two of the letters from her name. When asked about the transition from Minnesota to Wisconsin, she says she has always loved the Midwest and finds it to be pretty similar, aside from a few new words like “bubbler” or “Ashwaubenon.”

Making a difference in the lives of others is her passion and hopes her greatest contribution to the YMCA is to help people feel great about themselves and do what they once saw as impossible. “I want to help people achieve their best life, whatever that looks like for them. I know the work we do through the Y changes people’s lives for the better and to see that impact motivates me every day.”

Let’s get to know Sharna!Stay in or go out? Go outCats or dogs? DogsSweet or salty? Both!Winter or summer? Spring, I’m not an extremist.City or countryside? CountrysideMorning or night person? Night time is the right time!Water or land? LandPizza or taco? TacoChocolate or vanilla? Chocolate if I have to choose, otherwise- TwistCake or pie? PieBook or movie? Movie

Sharna enjoys spending her free time watching movies, taking walks, being with friends, and traveling. She volunteers with her church and participates in community service organizations, and looks forward to becoming more involved in the Green Bay community. Her favorite movie is Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell. Something few may know about her is that she lived in Norway during her junior year of high school as an exchange student and can still speak some Norwegian.

As far as what a ‘typical’ day looks like for her, she says one of the great things about working for the Y is that there are not any. There are always different challenges and opportunities. Her days consist of working with key stakeholders to ensure that we are being fiscally sound, customer focused, and delivering on mission critical results.

Looking forward to the future, she anticipates an evolution in the communities we serve. “We might become more digital, we might offer more off-site programming, or fitness could take on a whole new format or trend...I love that the YMCA is ever changing to meet the community’s needs. We are not stagnate. We see a gap, and we try to fill it.”

A quote from Sharna’s favorite movie, Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell, serves as her reminder to live out each day to the fullest and appreciate all that life has to offer: “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!”